and and the multi-unit and the multi-unit because we're not the design police that's right right
right mr chair can i have i got a question um so if you go to the three-story uh building how high
is that what's going to be is that going to be over the 38 no it's 33. okay okay planning commission
thank you chair bergman uh ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission that's
spelled h-e-g-a-r-t-y do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the
truth yes sir i do thank you members of the board uh good morning ian hegarty for the planning
Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential single
family zoning at this location. Just want to note that the RSA 5 designation
at this location. I just want to note that the RSA 5 designation of the property is not
accidental or arbitrary. It reflects a desire that was just spoken by the last witness
to maintain single-family use on this block and in this property. This is a 1,159-foot
square foot lot. The applicant's hardship claim here has depended entirely on the existing
structure, which is proposed to be demolished. So without the existing building, there's
nothing inherently unique about the lot that prevents it from being developed in conformance
with the zoning code. Transit proximity, adjacent non-conforming structures, other zoning districts
that are in the neighborhood, they don't substantiate hardship. So we find that there's
no hardship uh presented in this case and we recommend that the board deny the requested
variance. MI 2021 001897 1313 South 23rd I vote no. Carl Tenere my vote is no. Thomas Holliman
my vote is no. James Snell my vote is no. Ishmael Shahid my vote is no. Thank you.
MI 2021-003-283-1625 Brown Street, United-Francisville, letter of support, Mr. Masters.
Mr. Masters is being promoted to our panelists right now, sir.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Masters. Spell your name for the court reporter, please.
Steve Masters, S-T-E-V-E, M-A-S-T-E-R-S, from the law firm of JustLaws.
All right. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Carol Tenere has a few questions for you, Sarah.
Hi. Do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
And it appears that you've emailed the entire exhibit packet with the required documents,
is that correct? That is correct. You may proceed. Thank you. I'm going to share my screen.
Thank you.
um good morning again mr chair members of the board um this is um an interesting
building uh 1625 brown street with me today is um the property owner my client joshua cohen
And we were able to go back into the Zonian archives and discover what this building has been used for over the years.
I'm going to pop over to page 33.
so this um this building was originally a rooming house um in 1918 uh six room
a six unit rooming house and throughout the years it has always contained um from six to
five units it's never been less than than five units we're um we're here to legalize the five
the five units um of this of this multi-family dwelling under the zoning code for arm one
four units are permitted because of the size of the lot. And we're halfway, a little more than
halfway to getting five units, but that's the only refusal that we have. And the hardship is
that the structure has always, has been configured and always been a six or five unit structure.
And so the courts have said that a hardship exists if the only way to do the permitted use is with demolition and extensive reconstruction.
As we go through the plans, and I'll show you what would happen if we got rid of or tried to join the top floor unit with the other ones, it would require extensive reconstruction.
there's going to be no change to the structures dimensions and there's no there's no there's no
physical changes we're simply legalizing the the use of it so start from the beginning here
the use of it. So start from the beginning here.
The refusal, as I said, is one refusal for the five units. We require 1920 square feet
for five units. 1440 square feet is for the four units. We have 1663 square feet.
The RCO, as you noted, was in support.
We have seven attendees voted in favor, two were against, one was neutral of the 10 attendees,
and there was no further letter that was issued.
Our site plan there is on the on the left side here there you'll see that there is a side yard
and a rear yard to this to this building which predates the zoning code from the early 1900s.
the um the floor plans um we have we have it's a three-story building we have two units a and b
on the first floor we have two units um c and d on the second floor and we have one unit that was
originally this the two for this when it was a six unit uh dwelling there were two units on the
On the top floor many, many years ago, they were combined together into one larger unit on the top floor.
In terms of the photos here, this is that side area, the side yard that we saw on the plans.
We have a lot of photos of the hallways.
We didn't have access to the individual.
this is all tenants are are living in all of the units and we didn't have access to to go into
their their units. This is the front of the building.
scrolling down here we go uh the zoning posters uh photos of the zoning posters
and it was displayed on the prominent side of the building.
We have a tax clearance, we have the deed in our exhibits, and
our application for Akil, our project information form,
and the rco notice with the proof of mailing uh rounds out our our exhibits
um if i could have um mr cohen raise his hand
and and get recognized so that he could adopt our testimony sure
mr cohen state your name and spell for the court reporter joshua cohen j-o-s-h-u-a
c-o-h-e-n do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do i do proceed um good morning uh mr cohen um you have been present um at the hearing today
and heard my testimony do you agree with it and adopt it as your own yes i do um is there anything
else that you wanted to uh share with the board about your your property i don't think so okay
questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman mr chairman no mr chairman
questions from the virtual audience
I don't see any further hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Members of the Board, in 2018, the zoning map was amended in this area in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan.
This parcel was intentionally not changed.
Property, as you've seen, has a documented prior use as six-unit multifamily dwelling, among other things.
We therefore recommend that the Board grant the variance.
We therefore recommend that the Board grant the variance. MI 2021-003283-1625, Round 3. I vote yes.
MI 2020.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes. Thank you. Thank you very much. I will be with you later also for
another case right okay mi 2021 002644 1701 south 25th street rco point breeze development
coalition letter of support concerned citizens of point breeze and opposition councilman johnson in
support mr dockamson
coming back in as a panelist. Yes, sir.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the board. Good morning. How are you? Good. Good. How are you
doing today? Great. Great. State your name and spell for the court reporter, sir? Yes. Alan
Nockamson, A-L-A-N, last name Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N, 123 South Broad Street,
Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions for you. Carol?
Hi, Mr. Nockamson, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
IT APPEARS THAT YOU HAVE SUBMITTED ALL THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS, IS THAT CORRECT?
THAT IS CORRECT. YOU MAY PROCEED.
MAY I SHARE MY SCREEN? YES.
THANK YOU. CAN EVERYONE SEE MY SCREEN?
ALMOST. YES.
OKAY, GREAT. I'M HERE FOR 1701 SOUTH 25TH STREET.
This is in the Point Breeze section of Philadelphia.
This is an ICMX property of well over 10,000 square feet, and we're looking to put an 18-unit
planned community, six single families facing Morris, and then six duplexes as well as part
of this planned community with a common driveway.
What you'll see is our notice of refusal, as well as a nearby property.
this board has, you know, dealt with under similar circumstances.
1501 South 25th Street, which is merely two blocks away in 2019,
this board granted an 18-unit planned community
for ICMX property on South 25th Street.
So this is not an outlier of what we're requesting
under similar circumstances.
We have a letter of support from the Point Breeze Community Development Coalition
AS WELL AS A LETTER OF SUPPORT FROM COUNCIL MEMBER KEYNOTA JOHNSON I DID NOT HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY
TO PUT THE LETTER FROM THE CONCERNED CITIZENS GROUP BUT I DO HAVE IT BECAUSE IT WAS SENT TO US
LATE YESTERDAY AND ACTUALLY WASN'T EVEN SENT TO US IT WAS SENT TO THE BOARD AND THEN WE DID
RECEIVE IT LATER IN THE DAY FROM MS. SALETA THE ZBA'S COUNCIL SO I DO HAVE IT IN FRONT OF ME AND WE
um we have maps of the area in our exhibit packet photographs of the property in the surrounding
area our plans and drawings proof that we had a meeting with the community and the community was
in support of this project uh deed to the property showing that h and m development llc is the owner
the property our application for appeal and our certificate of tax clearance showing that we're
good standing with the city of philadelphia on the line i also have ghazi out of seven
the owner's representative who will adopt my testimony and answer any questions he's also
a licensed realtor who can answer any questions with with regards to you know using the property
for its allowable use so this notice of refusal again is for icmx property
We're looking to put 18 units here, six single-family, six two-family units.
Again, it's not out of character, and you'll see from the next portion of this exhibit.
But the refusals are as follows.
The first is the use.
This is an ICMX property.
We're looking to pay 18 units.
Again, not out of character.
This board in 2019 granted a similar variance for an 18-unit plant community, only two blocks away at 1501 South 25th Street.
The second refusal has to do with the minimum side yard width.
You'll see from the photos that we have no choice.
We're near an underpass where there are columns which are on our property, and we had to set back our ability.
where we're you know which are on our property and we had to set back our building structures
on south 25th street so whether it's an ICMX use or a residential use that we're proposing we would
have the same type of issues in terms of a variance so that's a hardship the third refusal
is the minimum rear yard depth nine feet required whereas the proposed rear yard depth is six and
two quarter inches, six feet and two quarter inches. We'll go through the site plan. You'll
see that how we're orienting the property. We're having the six single family homes on Morris
and we're having, we're using an existing curb cut on South 25th Street and then having the 12
duplexes in the rear of the property. And that side yard, excuse me, that rear yard is actually
the pedestrian walkway for the duplex structures as well. So we're using it more as a pedestrian
walkway, not as a rear yard. So the way we're orienting it using an existing curb cut,
you know, that's the rationale behind that. And then the final refusal has to do with the width
of the drive aisle. 24 feet is required under the code and asking for 18 feet, which is not
out character you know we you know we're you know we have a 12-foot curb cut which we're using an
existing curb cut and there's more more than sufficient with in terms of the drive aisle for
the uh off-street parking again just you know gave the zoning and use permit for 1501 south 25th
street again it references an 18 unit plan community it also indicates a calendar number of
36580. This appeal took place not too long ago where this Board under similar circumstances
took an ICMX property and allowed for the conversion of it two blocks away for 18 units,
just like the same thing that we're looking to do.
And then our letter of support from the Point Breeze Community Development Coalition. Again,
Again, if you look at it, it was unanimous support by the community.
And then Council Member Johnson typically only gives letters of non-opposition, but here it's actually a letter of support.
Well, it's an email of support. This is what I received.
But it really speaks volumes about the responsibleness of the adult development that we're proposing and how it fits within the character of this part of the neighborhood.
Next is the maps of the area. Again, you'll see from the photos, but there's an overpass
here. We're at the corner of Morris and South 25th Street. All we're merely looking to do,
especially by having the single-family homes facing Morris Street, is to extend the residential
nature of this neighborhood, right? Where we purposefully designed it so the residential units
would be each of them would be facing Morris you'll see in the drawings we have a curb cut
that will be in the middle here and then the duplexes will be hugging uh I guess the side
but depending on how you orient it the rear of where the Morris part is but you know we purposefully
oriented this by using an existing curb cut to extend the residential nature of this neighborhood
And then photographs of the property. This is what our property looks like right now. We're under the underpass. As you can see, this is an existing curb cut. I believe this was a salvage yard for its last use. It's been abandoned for some time.
and, you know, it can just be very difficult to, you know, use it for its proposed ICMX use.
Again, a similarly situated property two blocks away found the same issues in terms of using it
for ICMX. We are in a residential neighborhood. We're just trying to extend that residential
nature of the neighborhood. You also see these columns. This is the issue, and this is why we
are setting back our property somewhat and we would need to do that regardless of whether it's
ICMX or this use as residential and that's one of our refusals. The side of the property on Morris
Street again you'll see pictures to the left and the right on Morris but this is the existing
building structure which is out of character for what you would see on Morris Street and what we're
trying to do is make it more into in character in terms of
residential use. And then 25th Street to 25th Street to the
right of the property. 25th Street to the left of the
25th Street to the left of the property, and then Morris to the right.
property. And then more
And as you can see, this is where you'll see more of the residential portion of the neighborhood.
This hasn't been developed yet.
And then our plans and drawings.
A couple things to note, and I'm just going to reduce the size to this.
There's no basement use in the duplexes.
This ground floor, first floor and second floor is Unit 1 or Unit A.
The third and fourth floors are unit B, and there's 12 off-street parking spaces, one
for each of the single-family homes, as well as the lower unit for the duplexes have a
garage for themselves.